Fallen Pirate (Title Pending)
by MoonShadow's Thoughts
Summary: Pirates tend to live relatively shot lives. They pillage towns, spend money, drink alcohol and do this until they die sometime within the pillaging or the drinking. They tend not to live very great lives when they are hunted down by the law every second. Not many seem to escape that life. One pirate, however, wants to try. More to save himself then to see if it was possible.
1. Chapter 1

**Storming the Crystal**

The Crystal Empire look so breath taking at night. The lights of the town reflected a billions times over into the night sky.

Earthen looked at the Crystal empire through his telescope. He saw the guards on the wall and saw lights reflect from the city as the crystal residence and materials reflected the star light.

There was no moon. Earthen had chosen this night specifically because of the lack of the moon. This way they would be harder to spot in the night sky.

"Raise the sails! Activate the Wind Stone! And silently! We don't want them to hear us." Yelled Earthen to the crew. The crew of around 96 followed his orders to the point. The sails were lowered, the ropes were collected, and the weapons were brought out. The hum of the the wind stone started which was soon replaced by the sound of wind blowing.

Earthen went to his quarters to collect his gear and prepared himself for what he wished and hoped would be his last run. He put on his heavy, long black coat and tied the waist down with a long red sash. The coat had a multitude of pockets which he used to carry his magical bombs, small ceramic pots filled with a mixture of gunpowder, jewel fragments. The ceramic pots were enchanted to with a spell that caused them to burn upon breaking which caused the content to explode violently when thrown. He got his favorite sword; The Sea, and attached it to his belt. He the went over to his mirror and water basin.

"Huh. Might want to think of shaving before a I go" Earthen said to himself. He had been neglecting to care for visage quite a while now and it showed. He was growing facial hair and his bronze mane was matted and tangled in spots. His face was scared and dry, making the scars stick out even more. He metallic eyes were bloodshot and face was covered with dirt and dried alcohol. After staring at his reflect for a bit he grunted and dunked his head into the basin of water. He let his head soak in the water for a bit before he came back and shook himself dry.

He then went over to his bed and lifted it. Under the mattress was a sac and some clothes. He would need this after tonight. This was his retirement funds. His escape from this dangerous lifestyle. His ticket to supposed freedom.

He wanted this badly, more for a sense if security then for anything else. He was a pirate captain, the guy on top. But that didn't mean much, it just meant that people listen to what you said and you decided when and who you raided. Aside come those you were just another member of the crew. Meaning if someone wanted to move up in the pecking order, they could. While Earthen was a great captain, knowing which places to raid and how to go about them while also treating his crew fairly, that didn't mean someone wasn't out for his position. He would know, he had been in this kinda of business since he was 8. He was now in his mid twenties so he knew how the pirate business work from experience. His goal for this raid was to get some more money to finally be able to retire.

"Captain." Earthen heard from behind him. He turned to see his first mate, a griffon by the name of Draven, standing in the door way of his quarters. Earthen liked Draven, he was a good first mate. He knew how the captain like things done and would deal with problems correctly if Earthen felt like not dealing with it at the moment. He was loyal and always had Earthen's back, never disobeying orders unless the situation called for improvisation. Earthen was silently wishing him good luck on being the pirate captain in the future.

"What is it?"

"We will be arriving at the Crystal Empire in about ten minutes."

"Altitude?"

"400 meters." He replied efficiently. Earthen thought about it for a while and replied, "Add around 60 to 70 meters. Better if we avoid being seen all together."

"Of course, sir." He waited before leaving however which made Earthen tense.

"What is it Draven?" He asked his first mate.

"Well, sir. It seems some of the men are getting to itchy and-"

"He's riling them up again isn't he?" Earthen interrupted, feeling annoyance well up inside him. He hated dealing with him as he was a very boisterous, and cocky. Draven confirmed his suspicious by given an apologetic nod. Earthen sighed as he walked over and went out the door, preparing to give a serious talk to one of his crew member.

"Ah, there you are captain! We were wondering if you were going to join today." Said a unicorn. His name was Silver Speech and he was just as his name denounced him to be, someone who could sway people with only words. Earthen hated his type and hated him, he was lazy, slimy, cocky, self aggrandizing and selfish. He was also a coward and never fought battles he believed he had any possibility of losing. Earthen knew that he was aiming to be the captain of the ship but he would die before seeing that happen. He knew that most of the crew were thieves and cutthroats but he hoped that when he left, they would have the better judgement to not follow this craven's lead.

"What are complaining about now, Silver Speech?" Asked the captain.

"Well, sir. Me and some others were wonderin' why would we raid this place. There are so many other places that have less security and are less of a hassle to deal with?" He asked with the slimy voice of his. Earthen heaved a heavy sighed and said to the crew, " The reason we are here instead of anywhere else is because today, the Crystal Empire is having a annual of some sort. Which means people will be out and about, and what are the guards duties?"

"To protect stuff." Some one said from the crew.

"Not stuff. Ponies. And if they are protecting ponies, what is free game for us, huh?" Earthen asked the crew.

"Their money and jewels," said another in the crew. At this, the whole crew cheered.

"Keep it down!" Earthen bellowed and silence fell, "Yes, indeed, but that is why we are splitting up into three teams. The second group's job is to maintains an sense of attack on the people of the empire. Attack the people, draw the guards to you. The third group's job is to go and steal from the houses. Remember, don't kill the inhabitants unless they don't cooperate." Earthen said sternly.

"And what about the first group?" Asked Silver Speech.

"They will be with me attacking the royal treasury." Earthen replied and the crew began muttering amongst themselves.

"Why should we trust you not to keep all the money you get and run off for yourself?" Silver Speeh asked attempting to get others on board with his distrust.

Earthen smiled at him and simply stated, " Because, I ain't you!" This got the crew laughing and put a scowl on the unicorn's face.

"Now get ready! We drop shortly." Earthen said and the crew man scattered to their posts. Earthen walked up to the wheel and took a look at what he was leaving.

The ships name was 'Dragon's Greed' which was a fitting title for a ship such as this. For one, the bow of the ship was carved into the shape of a dragon's head, and said carving was painted in gold as was most of the ships design. Most of the ships plunder was gold and jewels. A dragon would be jealous or at least envious of their haul. However it may have seem like a dragon was envious and incurred its wrath for it is rumored that the jobs of captain is cursed.

This ship had been given to him, by its previous captain before he died; a griffon by the name of Jacom. He was a decent captain, his only downside was that he was too random of a captain to predict his mood. Some days, mellow and chill and then on the drop of a dime, angry and ready to dish out punishment. He had died attempting to escape capture and was shot in the wing with a spell. The spell was lethal and had killed him only hours after getting shot. Earthen had seen the previous captains as well, an earth pony by the name of Triscourt. He was a strict, disciplined and despicable captain who believed more on ruining a place instead of just pillaging it; burning and destroying much of the city before running away. Earthen remember the almost ironic way of his death, getting caught in a burning building because of his reluctance to stop disciplining a crew member during an attack. Though he had not seen or had been present during the rein of the captain before Triscourt, he had enough and heard that he had died as well. It was rumored that being the captain of the ship cursed you to die in some sort or horrible way. While Earthen was one not to believe in curses or hexes of any kind, he could read the pattern. That pattern said; the longer in the business was you stay, the more the likely it was for you to take the dirt nap. Earthen was determined to escape that 'curse' and live.

They were approaching the edge of the large city. Earthen held our his hoof to stop his crew from jumping out early an said, "Drop altitude to 150 meters". The lights of the house were now under them, each house glistening with its own hues. The captain still held his hoof in the air. Just before they were over the large courtyard, Earthen whispered loudly to his crew, "Third team, drop down!"

Ropes were thrown over the sides of the ships for those who couldn't fly, and those who could jumped off the sides and dived down towards the houses, bags and swords I'm hand. Once he was sure they were all off board, he yelled to the group around the float stone below deck, "Drop altitude! Go down to 25 meters, now!"

The float stone below deck was a very peculiar device. It was a stone of a dark pink hue and had a very peculiar property. Depending on the temperature of the stone, it's weight would rise and fall. If gone to a certain point the float stone will float, essentially negate its own weight which is what kept the ship changing altitudes. By warming the stone up they would rise, by cooling it down they would sink. This was a difficult task as it requires unicorns to at least know a heating a cooling spell, along with other ponies to assist by dumping cool or warm water on the stone. However, Earthen knew his 'Stoner Temps' as he called them, could do it. He had had them practice going from high to low temperatures on multiple occasions.

The ship began to drop rapidly, shifting down by 45 degrees to gain momentum. Earthen held the wheel sternly as they dived down into the crowded courtyard. As he felt the ship slow down as it was approaching the level altitude, Earthen pulled up and the ship followed by paralleling itself with the ground. As the ship was still moving Earthen called in a loud voice, "Second Team, go down, now!" The second did as instructed and jumped down off the boat, into the crowed courtyard where ponies were all looking up in confusion. Then as they began the pirates began to cut down those helpless ponies, someone came to the realization, "Sky Pirates!"

Earthen would miss that. Being called a Sky Pirate had a nice ring to it that would never really be the same as being a called a Pirate. It was like being part of some sort of nobility of pirates. _Still though_ he thought to himself_, better to miss something then death_.

After he was sure Second Team had gone he yelled down to the Stone Temps, "Raise altitude to 304 meters! First team get ready, were are going to go through the hard way!" They gave a loud cheer as they heard this. They knew what this meant and they loved to see it in action.

"Get out the M Canon!" Earthen yelled at the crew. They roared in jubilation as some of the crew went and opened a hatch on the deck while some others and began to turn a wheel. As the wheel turned, a one and a half meter long and a half a meter wide canon came from the below deck.

The M Canon was very self explanatory. It was large canon that shots out compress magical energy. It was the ship's way of making a big entrance and to allow easier destroy both magical and physical barriers.

"Fire on my mark!" Earthen yelled to the crew. He turned the ship in the direction of the large tower that stood in the center of the Crystals Empire. The ship speed towards its target a quite a fast speed. Earthen held his gaze at a certain point in the tower where he knew would be the best places to assault from.

"Steady!" He called. The ship got closer to its target.

"Steady!" He called. The ships seem to roar as it destroyed the roofs of house.

"Steady!" He called. He saw his crew ready weapon and bombs as they held onto railings or ropes of the ships.

"Fire!" He shouted. The canon let out an strange sound as the magical bolt discharged from the cannon, almost like the sound of a small rock falling into a large pound except with its volume turned up to extreme high. The magical bolt was releasing a multitude if colors as it blazed a trail through the sky directly into a certain section of the tower. An explosion that followed was devastating, as now a giant hole was in the tower. The hole was his entry point.

"Come on boys and girls! First Team with me! Draven, stay with ship and collect the other teams, it will take a while to find the treasury so get the other first!" Earthen said as he followed First Team as they jumped off the boat and into the tower. Draven nodded as he directed some of the other crew members to do certain things and prepare for rescue of the others. Earthen smiled as he jumped off the ship, yet on the opposite side and opposite direction his other crew mates had done. As he was falling, he looked around for any sources of water. He found one, a fountain, small but exquisitely built. Earthen opened his wings and soared down to it, drawing The Sea and extending it towards the water.

The water trembled a bit before moving towards the cutlass hilt. The Sea was Earthen's favorite sword for a reason; because it was a magical blade. It worked as such; there was no blade on the sword as it was just a handle of an ordinary cutlass. Within the blade of the cutlass was some sort of enchantment that allowed it to control and shape any liquid he choose to. There was no limit to how much water he could collect with the blade but it became harder to control the more water you collect. With the blade made of water, it was more flexible and can change shape at will. Of course, this required a lot of willpower which made it something very hard for other pirates to use.

Once the blade of water was formed, Earthen pulled up from his dive and flew up towards the hole that he had created. His crew had already started their attack on the tower and had already began defended themselves from the soldiers. They weren't doing so well and this, Earthen concluded, was his own fault for not giving them the proper equipment. He had forbid his crew to use of bomb for raid because many of them were too loose with them. He had lost ten men due to a bomb thrown incorrectly, and since then Earthen only allow Draven an himself to use bombs.

"Come on, you dogs! Put your pack into it!" Earthen said from above them as he threw one of the multitude of ceramic bombs he was carrying into a large crowd of guards. The bomb exploded with such force that most of the guards in the blast zone were knocked back into walls and other guards an those that weren't knocked back sufferers from the shrapnel the jewel shards inside the ceramic bombs. Then to help his crew further, he drop down behind the line if guards and began to cut them down.

Though they were the royal guards and train for fights such a these everyday, Earthen was a pirate and fights likes these determined if he would live through the day, so while he was having quite some trouble fighting three armed guards in his own, he didn't falter nor retreat. While guards were trained fighters, their repertoire didn't include the occasional misleading comment or the back and dirty handedness that people learn as they grow older and are accustomed to fights. A pirate is closely similar to the opposite; never training in any formal way and instead training in how to be deceitful in combat and using every dirty trick in the book. Because of this, it was close to a stalemate for both sides. However, this wasn't a fight, this was a raid, and the goal wasn't to kill there opponents, it was to take their valuables. So many of the pirates Earthen had chosen for the raid, weren't fighting at their best. They were fighting well enough to take advantage of any falter their opponents gave them. Which happened when you seem to be holding down a vicious pirate.

The pirates quickly dispatched the group of guards and began moving. They spew down corridor after corridor until the reach a crossing. Earthen didn't know the layout of the tower, he was guessing at this point but he didn't see a reason to stop but he saw a reason to speed the process up a bit.

"Alright! You 15 go down stairs and check for the treasury. You find it, you take what you can carry and you go straight back to the ship. If don't find anything after 7 1/2 minute of searching, go back to the ship. The rest of you are coming with me to do the same thing upstairs. Let's go! Let's go!" Earthen ordered. The pirates grunted in response and followed his orders.

Earthen didn't know what to expect as he climbed the stairs, going higher into the tower. He did expect to find resistance to which there was quite a bit of, but nothing a well-placed ceramic bomb couldn't deal with with haste. Earthen was getting weary now, as he was running out of bombs and it didn't look like they would find anything of value soon. Then, as the group of pirates climbed higher they reach a large door to which they immediately broke open. The room they had now broken into was the throne room of those out in charge to rule the small empire, and there were two ponies in the room. One of them was sitting on the one of the thrones in the back of the room while the other was in the center of the room, with a spell readying itself on his horn while in a battle stance.

"Captain Silver Trail," said Shining Armor. That was his alias as a captain. The reason for this was because if he reached a certain flight speed, he would leave a path of silver in the air. This was cause by the ends of his feathers being tipped silver instead of just staying one color.

Earthen was shot with a sense of pure dread and fear. This was a strong pony, one of the more powerful unicorn ponies out there if you didn't count any of the princesses. He knew that his sheer magical force could blow a couple of them away and he would do so. Earthen thought fast, his crew was at stake, and even though this was his last raid before he officially retired, he still wanted them all to come back safely so that they could send him off. His only thought right now was; 'Getting out of here alive with my crew!'.

And this is exactly what he tried to put in motion. He pulled out one of his ceramic bombs and threw it at Shining Armor. He knew that this was a futile effort because Shining could just destroy the bomb before it got within 15 feet of him but that's is what he wanted, to discharge the bolt of magic against something small and meaningless than a large group of pirates.

As predicted, Shining saw the ceramic ball and moved his horn towards it and shot our of he sky, basically disintegrating from the air. As this was being done, Earthen jumped into the air, flapped his wing thrice to climb higher, then dived down onto the captain of the royal guards. Shining saw this and brought up his magical shield to defend himself. Earthen's water blade connected with the shield, both captains screamed out order's to different people at the same time.

"Cadance, get out of here!"

"Men! Get back to the ship!"

Both parties seemed to disagree at the same time as well and both spoke up.

"I am not leaving you dear!"

"But captain, we can help!"

Now both captain, again, spoke to at the same time to their respective groups. However, while one was more negotiable, the other was stern and ordering.

"Now is not the time, please get to safety!"

"I said get back to the ship! That's an order!"

Earthen took his blade back from its constant push against Shining's shield and lobbed to ceramic bombs in his direction. Again not to do pain or damage, but to be a distraction.

"Get back to the ship and tell the crew to haul ass! I will meet with you guys later, now go!" Earthen yelled at his crew, turning the water blade into a whip in whipping the air in front of them to instill urgency. After three second of standing still looking as though the would disobey his commands, they relented and began to run out of the room. Shining saw this and began to aim at them, while saying, "I will not let you escape!"

Earthen whipped around and swum his sword at the stallion. As expected however he dodge the strike and Earthen threw two ceramic bombs in retaliation. Shining was forced to shoot down one the and then redirected the other bomb right back at him. Earthen saw this come forward and thought fast again, he probably couldn't dodge and he didn't have enough water collected by the sword to use it as a shield. He realized however, that he was pretty close to the bomb's landing spot. Seeng this, he jumped forward and caught the bomb before it landed. He then buckled down, rolled and threw the bomb at Shining again. Shining was about to redirect he bomb again we he saw the Earthen had made the water shift into its whip form and was aiming for the bomb. He immediately brought up his shield to defend himself.

Earthen waited to see the affect of his improvised tactic but, of course, the prince wasn't harmed in the slightest.

"You seem intent to protect your crew, pirate. I didn't think there was any loyalty between criminals." Shining said.

"Just like any organized group, there are always some loyalties. Do you not have them in the army?"

"Do not compare the army to a pack of merciless thugs!" Shining yelled back, "The royal guard all swear loyalty to the princesses of Equestria. We have more to each other loyal to than you!"

"True. But I do not see any guards coming to your aid." Earthen replied solemnly. Something had just clicked in his mind, and it was something that he dreaded and had tried to avoid. But it looked like some curses cannot be overcome by sheer will power.

"I have sent them to protect the citizen that you are so quick to butcher, and I can ask the same of you. Where are your pirates thugs to back you up? If I recall you sent them away to flee, what you should be doing now. Why aren't you with the rest of your crew? I thought the saying goes, 'A ship should never go down without a captain' right?"

This actually made Earthen laugh, a sad and mad kind of cackle, but laugh all the same. This made Shining Armor a little weary of his opponent. He didn't seem all that right in the head to him. And he would he right; for Earthen had accept the fate of 'the captain'.

"The reason I am here and not on my ship blasting you with my cannon, is because I have excepted my fate. My ticket had been predestined to by finally be punched and it seem the ticket collector is you, Captain of the Royal Guard. It seems that this will he my final fight and how fitting would it be to go against a captain a well. Do you not agree?" Earthen said in a solemn yet cheerful tone. He didn't give Shining anytime to retaliate however as he immediately pulled out a ceramic bomb and threw it at the ground in front of Shining. He was down to three more bombs and he was going to make them count.

Shining brought up his shield and backed up a step. Earthen took this time to jump up into the air and turned the water back into a blade, this time longer than a normal cutlass. As that happened Shining charged up a magical bolt and shot it at the air born pirate. Earthen was quick to dodge and threw up his second to last ceramic bomb into the air on between both him and Shining. Shining saw this and attempt to shoot the bomb outbid the air but Earthen wouldn't let him as he dived from the air down on the prince. The two clashed again, sword against shield and both of the back stepped from their respective action. However Earthen didn't let up, as as soon as his four hooves touched the ground, he took off again, swinging an citron at Shining. The royal guardsmen retaliated with his shield and magical bolts attempt to shoot down the sky pirate an avoid getting cut.

Earthen was counting in his head. There was only a couple more seconds...  
5  
He swung again with his blade of water.  
4  
He swung again.  
3  
He brought out his wings and flapped once, keeping himself on the ground and creating a gust of wind.  
2  
He flapped again. Harder than before. Bringing himself into the air a bit.  
1  
He took off. High into the air.  
0  
The bomb landed behind him. While Earthen was in the air, Shining was on the ground and in range of the explosion. The bomb landed around 7 to 10 feet behind Earthen. Though it wasn't close enough to do serious damage it was still able to hurt Shining who didn't had his shield up at the moment.

Earthen didn't know how magic, nor could he explain any of the actual mechanics behind his magical cutlass but he can understand it to a point. He understood that, shields that unicorn used to defend themselves from attack, only would defend on what they considered to be a direct threat to them at the time. Meaning that if the unicorn perceived thrown objects as a danger, it would defend against any object coming at them at a speed probably to vein thrown, however it would not protect against natural elements, meaning even if the wind was blowing at around the same speed, it would not be deflected by the shield. Earthen had used this to slightly blind Shining a bit so that the bomb in the air wouldn't be the first thing on his mind.

As the bomb exploded, the jewel shards inside the bomb shot out and a fraction of them managed to hit Shining as he was unaware of the bombs detonation. Some fragments shot into the front body area of Shining, causing him pain. He was lucky to have moved his hoof to shield his eyes earlier for some of the jewel shrapnel imbedded themselves into his arm. He screamed in pain as they stuck themselves into the arm of the prince. Earthen took this chance and tackled the stallion from the air. They tumbled on to the ground and wrestled each other for dominance of the tussle, but due to the shrapnel in his body, Shining was at a disadvantage. Earthen overpowered him with trouble but managed to do it all the same.

"Come on you loyal dog!" Earthen yelled at Shining, "Aren't you supposed to be capturing me and putting my head on a pike!" He kicked the prince in the gut, "Why am I winning?" He smashed his hoof in the guardsman's chest. Earthen was furious at the turn of events. He was expected to be captured then killed like the pirate he was, not to pin the Shining Armor down and subsequently win this fight. Earthen now would not be able to leave this life unless death was involved. You could get out of the business if you got lucky and didn't do anything that would make you easily identifiable to the public. A pony who wears a mask all the time and never shows his cutie mark can simply remove his mask and become a member of society. This would not be an option for Earthen now as he had just walked into the royal throne room beaten the prince and led a small army of pirates to pilfer the treasury. He wasn't going to be able to just put down the coat and expect to live a normal and pirate free life and because of this, he was angry.

Earthen pulled the sword of water from his side and said, "Don't make me be the bad guy!" Earthen pulled the sword into the air, an action resembling the executioner raising his axe.

"No!" Came a shout from in front of Earthen. He quickly looked up to see the princess, Cadance, charging up her own magical bolt. She was nearly at the firing point and there was a sense of emotional power that emanated from her. Earthen had heard the emotions greatly affect one's spells.

"You will not hurt him!" Cadance yelled at the pirate on top of her husband. Earthen thought fast. He needed to protect himself from this or he could get disintegrated. He looked around and saw a large barrel of wine or some sort of alcohol. He guessed that the royals had probably wanted to spend this night alone and without interruption so just ordered the barrel to stop the need of servants. It didn't matter though as he pointed his sword at it and the barrel exploded from the inside and the discolored liquid flows through the air and soared across the room to him. She shoots her bolt.

"Defense ball!" Earthen yelled into the cutlass. The water of the blade shifted and swirled around till it became a ball around him. Earthen took in a deep breath before the ball fully enclosed around him, attempt to get as much oxygen sane could as the ball of water didn't allows air in or out of the ball once done.

Not even half a second after the ball had fully enclosed itself around him, Cadance shot her magical bolt.

The cutlass' shied form has to be noted as not an actual shield that deflected attacks. It was more of water membrane that redirected the flow or force of an attack. A sword would swing straight down against the shield and finish its swing at an different angle. However the shield only seems to block physical strikes and not those of the magical kind. So in essence, the shield that had formed around Earthen was nothing more that just a tennis ball while Cadance bolt was was the racket.

Earthen was pushed back hard and fast, to the point where he crashed through the window behind him. The magical bolt didn't slow or lose power and continued to push him back, now into the air. Earthen was focusing the power of the cutlass to the point where the magical bolt was hitting him. He couldn't and wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. This would probably be his final moment; flung into the air being propelled there by a magical bolt shot by a princess.

_Could have been worse_, Earthen thought to himself, _I could have been killed by Silver Speech_.

The water around him broke.

The magical bolt made contact with Earthen's chest.

A large and violent explosion sent Earthen flying even further.

He was now dead. He didn't feel or hear or see anything more. The last thing that he truly remembered before the explosion was the smell of a light perfume, elegant but not strong.

Apple Jack was out early that morning. She wanted to get a good idea of what the day was going to be like tomorrow. While she and her brother had already finished most of the harvest yesterday, there were still other things to do. She was making a mental checklist as she lightly jogged around certain parts of the farm.

"Gotta feed th' pigs." She said to heralded as she passed the pig pen. She continued down her path and saw a that some branch of a tree had broken off. She went to make a closer inspection and saw that it wasn't just one tree but a few. What was more strange was how straight then line was.

"Well ain' this a bi' strange." She said to herself. She began to follow the line of broken branches trying to asses the damage on each of the trees as she went. They weren't all serious but some of the branches that had broken off were quite bit and she wondered what could has chased this.

She saw that the damages were getting less severe as she went on and she continued to wonder what had cause this strange destruction. She didn't have to look hard or hard for her answer.

As she had not been paying much attention to the ground because if the damages were in the trees she didn't realize that she had stepped in the perpetrator. She was still stepping on him and only realized when her hoof, that was on the body of the perpetrator moved slightly out of pain.

* * *

AppleJack jumped up in fright as body on the ground moved. The body was that of a Pegasus who seemed unconscious. He had a coat of dark metallic blue and his mane was a bronze or copper color. He was wearing what loot like a heavy coat with a belt made of some red linen or cloth. On closer inspection, there were three scares on the pegaus' face and his one of his wings were bent in an odd position. He seemed to be in lots of pain.

"He's gonna need a doctor!" Apple jack said as she began to pick the pegasus up and drag him to her house.

* * *

**Hey guys! **

**I don't really know what I was writing here, but I recently watched the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the idea of pirates started to take a hold of my mind annoyingly and this story idea popped into my head. But if you read the title, Its not all about pirates in Equestria which I believe has been done before but more of the 'retirement plan' of a pirate. I thought that would be kinda fun to explore just because no pirate really believes in retirement and it would be fun to get a character who has been ingrained with a violent and cut-throat nature to attempt to live a peaceful life. **

**The 'Sky' pirates thing came from the boredom of pirates. I know that pirates have always been on the see, but I feel that that really restricts your options on what to do in Equestria. Has there ever been an actual town set near the see in the entire show? So that's why I made them SKY pirates. Still Pirates, but with a fun twist that give them the kinda of freedom to be pirates anywhere they want to be. The idea of the ships creation and general flight came from a book i read so long ago i can barely remember the characters of the title, f you guys remember try to leave a comment to tell others of the book cause I'm sure it was pretty good. **

**Anyway, if you guys liked it, please follow and review. If you want more, which I'm not sure I'll do, please write something in the review box. **

**Have a great day**


	2. The Job Interview

**Chapter 2**

Earthen slowly woke up from his sleep in a very comfortable place.

As his eyes slowly opened, they adjusted to the lights in the place he was in. Eventually, they opened fully and he took in his surroundings; a whitish room with white lights and white beds around him. He tried to move up to get a better look but felt his movement were sluggish and slow to act. He looked around again and saw a tube attached to his arm. He looked at for a while before removing it with a tug. After a couple of seconds, his movement speed eventually returned to him. He tried out his arms agains and felt pain as he moved them back and forth. The pain was quite sever but nothing Earthen hadn't gritted his teeth through. He looked around once more and realized where he was.

"A hospital." He said out loud without really meaning to. Earthen had never been in a hospital but he understood the gist of what it looked like from other eye witness accounts. As a pirate, you couldn't go to a hospital when hurt as they must take down information of your character which can led to being found.

If someone what hurt in the crew they went to go find the doctors who don't work in the hospitals, the 'off the books doctor'. There you would he treated for your injuries in the most minimalistic way possible with your life in safety. They were good but costly.

However Earthen's thoughts were more directed at why he was in the hospital on the first place. Shouldn't he have died? Getting shot with a bolt from the princess invokes a high probability of death so why was he not only alive but in a hospital? He figured that staying around wasn't a good idea because it could mean being found out of who he was if he was anywhere near the Crystal empire.

He threw the light sheets off of him and got out of the bed he was in. There were a couple more things attached to him which he removed with annoyance. Once removed he began a stretch that was immediately interrupted by a surge of pain. He looked to where the pain was emanating from and saw that there was a large bandage around his right wing.

"So I guess am not dead." Earthen said to himself, as he inspected the wing. He figure he would have to let that one heal on its own, once he was out of here. He removed the strange garment he was wearing and began to walk out of the room. As he opened the door, a pony stumbled in wearing a large white coat and wearing a strange device around his neck.

"Ah, so you are finally awake." said the pony who Earthen assumed was the doctor, "And you seem to be moving quite a bit. I don't suggest that as a good idea, you had multiple fractured bones and your right wing has a broken bone. It would be wise for you to let us do our jobs."

"I have no reason to stay here. And I don't want to be kept here against my will!" Earthen said as he pushed past the doctor. He began to go down the corridor and the doctor followed, speaking as they went along, "But sir, you have sustain quite a few sever injuries, I am surprised you are actually walking around as if your not in pain but-"

"Oh I am in pain. Quite a bit. I just don't want to be here for long. No pain cannot be solved with rum and gin." Earthen interrupted.

"I see, but we must monitor your progress for a bit. It is imperative that you stay for longer."

"No." Earthen said at the doctor while looking for the exit. The doctor walked besides him and continue to talk about his health an how he shouldn't be moving. Earthen noticed however, that there were a couple larger ponies wearing white clothing were gathering around him and the doctor.

Earthen eventually stopped, turned to the doctor a said in a somewhat angry tone, "You say I should stay and your acting all nice about but why is there a couple of what I assume are 'muscle' circling me like some sort of animal?"

The doctor stopped talking and his face fell into one of apologetic fear. He stepped back slowly as if he was stepping away from a feral best in the middle of lunch and said, "Well, um, these ponies are here to help you and you are injuring yourself so they wish to take you back to your room for full recovery."

Earthen gave a loud snort and began walking again, except this time he was headed towards one if the aids the doctor had called to escort him back to his room. The aid wasn't sure on how to react to him.

When Earthen was close enough to the aid, Earthen grabbed the scruff of the aid's shirt and smashed his head into the aid's. A perfectly executed head-butt which rendered the aid unconscious. This was supposed to prove Earthen's health and his care was nonessential. But the action caused him also of as much harm as at it did to the aid.

As the head-butt was delivered, the force he exerted had a small kick back due to the contact. The kickback wasn't much but it was enough to rattle most of the fractured bones within Earthen himself, causing immense pain and forcing him to the ground. The pain was enough to make Earthen yell out, but he didn't. He never cried in pain, ever since he was 10 he never did. Screaming due to pain showed weakness and that wasn't allowed in a pirate ship. Old habits die hard.

The aids took this chance to collect him and put him back into his bed and this time, strap him down with restraints. The entire time this was going on, Earthen was shifting in between consciousness was and it's opposite. The doctor was talking through all of it, as if to accentuate his point for Earthen care at the hospital. The one thing that Earthen's constantly shifting consciousness was able to hold onto was the thought of hitting the doctor for what sounded like a pompous attitude.

It wasn't till midday that Earthen woke up again and he was quite frustrated with the doctor's talking. He had been talking off and on, none stop through Earthen's shift of consciousness.

"Ah, you're awake again."

"No doctor. I was never truly asleep to begin with. Gods, do you never stop talking?" Earthen said as struggled against the bonds more to test out their strength than to escape.

"Oh. So you heard most of that, did you?"

"Most, doctor, most."

"Well now that you are awake, I can fill out your contact list. Can ask you your name?"

"You don't know?" Earthen asked somewhat curious, he figure that they wouldn't need this information if he was still on the Crystal Empire.

"Yes... I don't. That is why I am asking you."

"Where am I?" Earth asked, tentative of the pony's response. The doctor seemed confused and wrote something down on some papers and responded, "Um, you are in a town called Ponyville."

Earthen starred at the doctor, for quite a few seconds determining if he was being played. When he was sure that the doctor wasn't lying, he smiled to himself.

He wasn't dead.

Nor was he in the Crystal Empire.

He was almost free.

"Sorry doctor. It's just... Never mind, what was your question?" Earthen said smiling and having a generally lighter attitude.

"What is your name?"

"Earthen" The doctor stopped a bit before asking he next question. He was slightly taken aback by the patient's name. Pegasi weren't normally named like that. The doctor continued, "Do you have any family or close acquaintances in the nearby area?"

"Nope." Earthen said, almost with pep. The doctor noted this down, wondering what had happened to the youth and continued, "Do you have a place to stay?"

"No, doctor."

"Do you have any family or close acquaintances that you can contact to pick you up or come and see you?"

"None of the sort doctor." Earthen said, a bit dejected at this realization. He knew starting a new life was going to be difficult but he hadn't really thought about the way and fashion of creating his new life. He had originally prepared for this by having a small fortune. He was going to by some house in a small town and then live in semi seclusion, coming down to the local pub and entertaining himself by drinking and talking to the locals. He would live a life of semi luxury. Now he had to start from square one.

"Well then. I guess you need to get a place to stay for a while. How about I contact your benefactor and you can discuss your stay or other things?" The doctor said, as he began to walk out of the room.

"Benefactor?"

"The one who brought you here." The doctor said, stopping before closing the door, "I believe that you would want to say thank you and maybe discuss about what to do next."

Earthen thought about this and decided that it would be very beneficial to get some sort of witness like person to show his new life to. Get someone to introduce him to the world and give him a small start ok creating his own life. He began to plan out discussion he would have with his benefactor in his head, trying to create a situation. that said thank you but also asking for more help.

AppleJack hadn't expected the call from the hospital and she had almost forgot the reason for the hospital for calling. It had been two days since she dropped the unconscious pegasus at the hospital. She was actually bit aggravated for being called out at this time. She was in the middle of doing the finance report for Apple Farms, and though she was good at math, she hated being disturbed doing then because she would get loss where she was in her calculations.

She figured she would have to come though, the hospital had asked her to come to talk the person who had crashed through her farm and she figured she would at least get an apology from him and asked how that happened in the first place.

"Ah, Miss AppleJack. Thank you for coming." a doctor said as he walked over to her.

"It was nothin' doc. So wha did ya need me fo'?"

"Well sadly, it seems that patient you brought in has no family or doesn't remember them. So we decided to call you to see you had pick up any information or anything that might tell us if there is any contact for him."

"Well, there wasn't anythin' specific. I jus kinda found him on the groun' with his wing bent. Sorry doc but there wasn't anythin like tha'" AppleJack said, her aggravation deflating a little. She was going to be a bit curt when getting her apology but now she wondered if that was pushing it a bit.

"Well that's ok. Still, you can go see him now. And please call any of the aid if he starts giving you any trouble. Or if he starts moving around a lot. Or if he breaks his bindings"

"Bindin'! Why do ya'll need the bind in' for?" AppleJack questioned perplexed.

"He seemed to be a little bit violent upon first waking up and so we took cautionary actions. He is fine now but we have a policy to keep restraints for a full day before removing them." The doctor said as he gave an apologetic look. AppleJack wondered what his violent behavior was but decided to take the dive anyway. She entered the room, and saw the pegasus she had helped two days ago. He was starring at a plate of food I front of him and had a look of annoyance on his face.

"Wha's the matter? Not gonna eat yer food?" AppleJack said, hoping to light the mood with a small joke. The pegasus looked up at her and gave her smile before giving a sigh saying, "See, that the problem. I can't eat it."

"Why's that?" AppleJack asked, hoping he knew she wasn't poking fun at him.

"Because, the idiot doctor forgot that I am still strapped to the bed." The pegasus groaned out while attempting to reach for his food with his bound hooves. AppleJack giggled at the sight, and the pegasus gave a sarcastic sob as he said, "Yeah, right. Laugh the guy who can't eat his food huh?"

"Imma sorry, it's jus' funny!"

"Yeah, I guess it is." He said and struggled over-enthusiastically again. She began laughing out loud now and he made exaggerated faces of pain or effort and she laughed even harder. This went one for another minute before he got tired and eventually stopped.

"Can I ask you your name now?"

"AppleJack, an' how bout you?"

"Earthen. I would shake your hoof but as you can see, I'm only a captive audience." The pegasus said as he bowed his head. AppleJack was a bit taken aback at the name. However, instead of just holding in her surprise at the name she said, "That's quite a strange name for a pegasus."

"I have been told, but that's the name I prefer" he said, but then continued in a low voice as if to himself "over others" AppleJack was about to ask what he meant by that but decided not too. Earthen smiled while looking out the window for a while before turning back to AppleJack. He opened his mouth then closed it and ten said slowly as if he was picking his words carefully, "I want to thank you for helping me out the other day. I know it's sometimes scary to just find a guy, out in your place and I want to thank you for helping me out. I am also sorry for all the damages I caused during my... Um, I guess crash landing would be the best way to describe it right? Anyway, I will do what ever it takes to get buy you back."

"Well, I am very glad you said tha'. I was gonna try an' get some money out of you to repair the damages but it looks like I go't myself a new worker." AppleJack said cheerfully, "I do hope ya know tha' I will make ya work hard to pay off them damages?"

"What cruelty, your gonna make a pony who can't even get out if his bed do work! How could you?" Earthen said in mock despair.

"You know wha'I mean!" She laughed out.

"Yeah, I do. I do wish for you to know that I don't have anyplace to stay once they kick me out of here."

"Ya be livin' with me and my folk till ya'll debt is paid."

Earthen gave a surprised smile and said, "I have never meet anyone willing to just give a pony like me a place to love for a while."

"I don' see why not. You seem like a decen', honest pony." Even as she said that, she felt something was off about him. Though all the laughs the my shards were genuine, she felt as though there was something that was still hidden or un-shared. While she was being honest with her intentions, she felt he wasn't entirely doing the same with his intentions.

"Well I don't know when I'm out so do you mind asking the doctor on the way out?" Earthen said.

"No problem." She said as she exited the room. She wondered what and how he had gotten to her farm but she figured she would ask later, during his stay at their place.

* * *

**Hey Guys, how was this one? **

**I figured this one was going to be short cause it was the introduction chapter and nothing usually big happens then. This chapter is also to establish the relationship between AJ and Earthen. They are basically workers, not only that but AJ doesn't trust the guy. **

**I also made this a bit more description in the character of Earthen. I made to show that he doesn't really care for the opinion of others, unless he can get something else out of them. He does this to AJ as he agrees and talks nice to her but he shows his animosity towards the doctors. This is meant to more clearly outline the fact that he is a pirate and that they had to learn certain skills in order to survive in certain places. The skills of flattery and such is one that goes a long way when you life revolves around people who can kill you without a second thought. **

**Anyway, tell me what you think. Read, and enjoy. **


	3. Released'

**Chapter 3**

It took Earthen a week to be released from the hospital and 'released' wouldn't have been the appropriate word. The appropriate word would have been bargained; as he was getting tired of staying at the hospital with its regulations and rules. After the third day, he had shown significant improvement in his bones as they were already stitching themselves back together. While this may an improvement, it didn't mean healed which is what Earthen interpreted it to mean. His wing was back to the way it was supposed to look and the doctors said that he should he back out in two weeks or so. Earthen believed this to mean he could go back to his walking and flying around. This was not allowed by the doctors who kept on strapping him to his bed whenever they caught him. Eventually he had enough of the doctors control over him and attempt to leave through the front door, on three separate occasions. After the third time he had given a proposition to the doctors; he would leave a week early if he could do a couple of push-ups using his wings. The doctors were skeptical about his strength of will and agreed this bet. Needless to say, the next day, AppleJack was outside the hospital waiting for her temporary new worker to get out.

"I don't ever want to be back in a hospital again." Earthen said as he walked along side AppleJack.

"Well, hope ya don' do anythin' that migh' get you hurt than" she said, as if it wasn't a difficult problem to solve.

"I guess I can try but I am a guy who's is plagued by getting hurt."

"Now why wou' that be?"

"I don't know. I just seem to attracted get hurt by a lot of different things."

"Like wha'?" AppleJack asked getting curious.

Without really thinking, Earthen began to list thing he remembered getting attacked, stricken, and generally hurt by, "Knives, swords, clubs, hammers, whips, hooves, claws, teeth, bombs, canons, fire, magical spells, I was once thrown into a pit with an Ursa for entertainment, I was in a thunder-"

"Hold up! Hold up!" AppleJack interrupted as she came to a stand still, "Knives and bombs? Ursas?! Wha' in high heaven's name di' you do for a livin'?"

"Um..." Earthen had put himself in a bind now. He hadn't meant for any of that to actually come out of his mouth but it seems it did and he would have to think of a way to get out of the situation, "You know that guys at the circus? The ones who do the really bad things?"

"Y're one of 'em?"

"Kind of." Earthen sighed with relief. He had actually had no idea what he was talking about. He had never been to a circus but he thought that if he threw it out there would help his case.

"So are you gonna go back to the circus once your done here?" AppleJack asked.

"Gods no!" Earthen said almost immediately, "With a life like that, I was surprised to find myself alive in the hospital."

AppleJacks eyes grew a bit when he said the last part which prompted her to remember the question she had been meaning to ask for a while, "So Ah know now, tha' y'er some performer and tha' you did some dangerous stuff. But tha' don' explain how you seemed to fly through the sky and crash through some o' my trees?"

"I was in a... canon...um...a canon trick. As you can see, it didn't go well." Earthen said making up lies on the stop. Something was off about himself and he didn't know why. He, normally, would be able to lie his way into parties for nobles but something made it harder to do saw. He had once managed to bluff and lie his way into a dinner party for a charity event held for the biggest sponsors of the event. Needs less to say his was able to get some more charitable donations from them but now he seemed to be stumbling on his lies.

"So do ya think her troop are gonna come look in' for you?"

"Not really."

"Why tha'?" She asked, perplexed at this. Earthen gave a non committal shrug as he said, "We don't really care for each other on that level. We see ourselves as a means to make money and that's it. If one goes down that means one less person to pay."

"Wha' kinda thinking is that?"

"Don't know," Earthen said, attempting to change the subject, "But enough about my story of how I ended up crashing through your place, let's talk about where I am going and ending up working." As he said this, he spread out his wings and gave a small hop, as if in glee.

"Well abou' where yer stayin'; in my house and about where her workin'; my farms."

"You own a farm?" He asked curious.

"Eeyup" she said.

"You know, I have seen one before." Earthen said with a hint of excitement.

"Well then, you got a lot to learn huh?" AppleJack said with a strangely evil smile. Earthen wondered why but he figured that this was going to the normal hazing of the new guy. The rest of the walk was in a semi awkward silence. Earthen was admiring his own freedom while AppleJack was thinking about what he should do to repay the debt.

Earthen was wondering when they were going to reach the farm until he notice that at some point, a lot of the trees had begun to look the same. He now took a closer look at them and saw apple trees all around him. He began to smell the crisp, sweet scent of apples every where around him, and he didn't mind it. In fact, he preferred it to the smell he had adjusted too which was an almost visible funk of the sweat of a crew who hadn't bathed in a long time, the smell of dried and or burnt blood, alcohol and gold which had its own metallic, smoky smell.

This new crisp and sweet smell was a welcomed change to his senses. This got him thinking about when he had apples. He surprised himself by the actual amount of time he had them which was somewhere around around 2 to 3 time in his entire existence. _Wow_, he thought to himself, _I need to eat better_. This prompted him to jump up and grab one of the hanging apples.

"Gettin' hungry?" Asked his employer.

"Kind of." Earthen said as he inspected the apple, "You know, I haven't had many apples"

"Really?"

"Yup. Going to see how they taste." He said with a tentative smile as he playfully tossed the apple into the air to himself. When it landed in his hoof, he took a bit of it.

His reaction to the red fruit was a strange one. He tasted a very sweet flavor, but it was too sweet for him. It was good, but followed up by something bad. The sweetest thing he had every had was bacon, and this didn't compare. He swallowed the first bite, the began to cough vehemently. AppleJack walked over hurriedly and asked, "What's wrong partner?"

"Sweet!"

"Huh?"

Too sweet!" He choked out. She looked confused, grabbed the apple and bit into it. She chewed slowly, then swallowed and look at Earthen with an even more confused look and said, "It ain' too sweet. Wha' are ya talking about?"

"Sorry if I don't live on the stuff. But that's too sweet for me."

"Hmph. Y're just a big baby." She teased and smiled at him. Earthen was about to call her out trash talk her, but he stopped himself. He wasn't a pirate captain anymore, he was a just a random guy who fell through this mare's farm. He had to act more rational and less impulsively.

It took them another couple of minutes before they finally reach the house on the farm. Earthen didn't know what to expect from a farm house but it seemed cozy and hospitable. He followed AppleJack into the house as she called, "Mac! You in?" No response came from within the house and AppleJack looking out the window. She motion for Earthen to follow her as she led him up the stairs. She pointed to a mostly empty room with just a small bed and some boxes in the corner and said, "Here's where you gonna be sleep in' durin' y're stay."

"Small and cozy"

"Sorry there ain' any windows in the room."

"Don't worry about it. I've been in rooms with a family of rats in the corner. This is an upgrade." AppleJack giggle a bit a this, "I am serious. There was a small family of rats in the corner. I named them and even feed em." AppleJack was full on laughing now as Earthen was smiling fondly at the memory.

"Do you remember their names?" AppleJack managed to asked through the fit of laughter.

"You gonna laugh some more?" He asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Probably" she said as her laughter was diminishing into a small giggles.

"Yes."

"What were they?" Earthen could see her anticipation to hear the answer and he didn't know whether he should release them or not. He looked at her and her almost emerald eyes and gave a small sigh before saying, "Terry, Flora, Joseph, Fruits, Amona and Rico" she exploded into a fit of laughter which he took as a time to drop off his belongings. He looked around the small little room and saw a small old lamp, one that looked too old to be of use and put his only possession on it; his coat.

As he hung his coat on the lamp but upon the it leaving his hoof, he felt it was heavier than normal. He went up to it and checked the pockets when he found a strange surprise. His last ceramic bomb. He froze for a fraction of a second by continued on like there was nothing there. _I don't live in that world anymore_, he thought. He turned to see AppleJack recovering from her fit of laughter.

"Why was one of 'em called 'Fruits'?" She asked attempting to hide her anticipation. Earthen just heaved another heavy sigh and said, "He never are anything but fruit and he always fell asleep in some sort of fruit peel."

As expected, she starting laughing again. Earthen just walked around her and continued downstairs to sit on the porch. He waited for a bit before he heard AppleJack laughing voice behind him.

"Well, that aside. Time to ge' you to work!" She said as she finally finished laughing.

If AppleJack were to describe her new employer with two words, she would take some time before she answered. Because Big Mac was out getting AppleBloom from school and her Grandmother was sleeping, she figured that she had to start with the less important tasks. The first word she would use would be; hungry. It wasn't the hungry for food, but the hungry to get the job done or to get things done right. She knew that it wasn't the job he was 'hungry' to finsh but she knew that she was hungry for something but she couldn't figure it out. Nor did she really want too, this stallion was just here to work and repay his debt. He would be gone when she figured he had done so, but that didn't stop her from being impressed at his efficenty and diligence.

She had told him to feed the pigs and to clean and organize the tools in the barn. She decided to buck some of the apple trees near where he worked to keep on eye on him and she was surprised by his drive to complete his tasks. What would normally take AppleBloom around fifteen to thirty minutes to do, he managed to not only understand and complete in ten minutes. Once he was done with that he went inside the barn and began his second task. This took him longer but after maybe half an hour, he came out and found AppleJack and said, "Ok done. What's next?"

"You're done already?" AppleJack asked in some surprise.

"Yes, capt- I mean ma'am." Earthen had corrected himself mid sentence. She wondered slightly if he meant to say 'captain' and wondered if that was something that he said a lot. It seemed so because it seemed almost reactionary the response. AppleJack bucked the tree she was on again for good measure before saying, "Alright'. Let me see." She headed for the barn and Earthen followed behind her, a few feet behind her and, to her at least, seemed tense.

The second word she would use to describe the stray would have been; either rugged or brutish in both looks and in mannerisms. His face was definitely rugged as it had scars and he had a dark looked about him. He never seem to naturally smile and whenever he did it was crocked. His mannerisms were more brutish then rugged but the word could be interchanged and one would receive the same results. He was a bit forceful in what ever he did and it definitely showed in his arrangement of the inside of the barn.

It was well arranged but there was a sense of forcefulness to it. All the tools were arranged appropriately, better than normal actually, but there was something about the set up. All the more important tools seemed to be right up front and the there were some tools that AppleJack never knew they had were also there. They were arrange in a way where you could easily see them and also grab them in a hury if need be. AppleJack was impressed but also weary of the job done. She didn't understand the reason for setting them up but she accept the way he had done it.

"Well, Ah got to say. You did a good job." She said turning to him. As she turned to see him, she notcied that he flinched. He flinched in the same way someone would if preparing for a slap or some sort of hit.

"Thank you ma'am. What's next?" He asked, almost expectantly. AppleJack looked around the barn and wondered about his next job. She didn't want him to buck apple just yet because she wanted him to have a good days rest and some actual food in the stallion's stomach. Luckily she didn't have to think for much, cause she heard the familiar talk of a foal telling her older brother her day.

"And Ah did good on my math test today." She heard Apple Bloom tell her brother as they walked towards the house. AppleJack decided to give Earthen a small break as she figured it would be a good idea to introduce her new worker to the rest family.

"Well how about some introduce you to the rest of the family." AppleJack said as she opened the barn doors. Earthen looked a bit surprised but his expresion stealed and he nodded once, as if obeying some sort of order. She wondered what made him so steally when working, cause she definetly remembered his joky and quite light hearted attitude when in the hospital.

"Hey guys. I would like to introduce ya'll to our new temporary worker, the one I told you abou'; Earthen." AppleJack said as she pushed the pegasus up front. He stumbled a bit from the force and his wings instinctively came out to stabilize himself. Once he was fine, the wings went back down and he gave a short bow saying, "Pleasure to meet you all."

Again, like her older sister, curiosity brimmed and the Apple Bloom asked the pegasus, "How come ya got such a strange name for'a pegasus?"

"AppleBloom!" She chastised. Earthen gave a little laugh, waving the concern aside. He was about to say something before he stopped, then looked uncertain about something and finally spoke up, "You know, I don't really know. But I like it so I am going to stick to it."

"Well, why don' we introduce ourselves" promted AppleJack. Apple Bloom was first as she went up held out her hoof saying, "Hi! Ah'm Apple Bloom. Nice to meet ya! Can I see your cutie mark?" Earthen was about to say something after shaking her hoof but she went on anyway as if he had agreed. This was the first time AppleJack also looked at his cutie mark.

It was a strange one. It was a cutlass pointing straight down with wings on either side. The cutlass handle was a copper color while the blade was a seemd to be black as well as the wings which made it difficult to dicifer which was which. AppleJack wondered where and how he got his cutie mark as it didn't see like something you would get as performer.

"How did ya get tha one?" Apple Bloom asked looking at it with aw.

AppleJack watched Earthen's expression carefully, attempt to see if there was anything he was trying to hid. His face had a flash of… was it fondness? He smiled a bit as he thought of something to say.

"Does it really matter?" Asked AppleJack wanted to steer the conversation away from what ever he might have say, "Here, this is my older brother, Big McIntosh." The big stallion nodded his greetings.

"Nice to meet you all." Earthen said and he gave a very elegant bow.

"Apple Bloom, why don' you go show Earthen here to meet Granny, woud ya?" AppleJack said, motioning to her brother for a private conversations. While Apple Bloom went off and Earthen followed her into the house, Big Mac walked up to AppleJack and looked at her questioningly. AppleJack watched Earthen with a scrutiny that her brother saw immedialty.

"Wha' do you think about him? I mean, he di' say he wanted to repay his debt but Ah don' really get a goo vibe from em." AppleJack looked at her brother, who had showed he was also pondering the problem. He was silent for a bit before saying, "How long you gonna keep him around for?"

"Well, Ah was thinkin' maybe for a week an' a half." She said with an uncertain and speculative tone, her brother looked at her with one eyebrow raised, "Well it's the winter season soon, I thought about maybe gettin' him to some bucking while you do them final fixes on the house. Ya' know, like fixing some of them windows, or trying to fix them snow plows." Mac thought about it for a bit before give a tilted nod.

"Just make sure ya know what your doin'" he said as he began walking towards the house.

While she joined her brother as they walked to the house. She wondered how Granny had taken to their new worker and hoped that Earthen hadn't done anything to provoke her in any way. When they were close, they began to hear a strange thudding noise. It wasn't a constant thudding but it seem to be calculated. AppleJack and Big Mac looked at each other, wondering what it was. Upon opening, they saw a sigh that wasn't really explainable with normal logic. Granny Smith was knocking Earthen over the head with a piece of wood. It was repeatedly, she was doing it it as if she was checking for something, as if she didn't hit hard enough or at a certain angle something would show itself. The stranger part was that Earthen wasn't attempting to stop it. He just standing there, watching her circle around him occasionally beating him over the head with the piece of wood.

"Um..." AppleJack question but Apple Bloom shushed her. AppleJack was now more confused and looked to her brother who looked just as confused a she felt.

"She's just checking if I'll be a good worker or not." Earthen said, matter-a-fact-ly.

"Shush" Granny said as smacked him behind one of his hind legs. He winced only slightly, as if a light breeze caught him by surprise. Granny circle him another couple of times and finally gave him a smack on top head which made Earthen wince only slightly more than before.

"Yup" Granny said smiling, "this one's gonna be a great worker."

Earthen looked a bit confused as he said, "Thanks for bot of confidence?" His tone implied that this was new for him and he looked towards AppleJack and Big Mac for clarification. They, however, didn't have any clarifications to give the poor pegasus.

AppleJack decided that it was probably time for Earthen to for-fill his role in alleviating Big Mac of his tasks and said, "Well, Earthen, Ah thinks you've had enough of a break. Let's get you back t'work shall we?"

Earthen nodded his agreement and bowed to the rest of the room before following AppleJack out of the house. She looked at him and he seemed to let out a breath, as if he had been tense through the whole inspection. He turned to her and said, "Does she do that with every new worker?"

"Not really. In fact, this is th' first time Ah've seen her do that."

"Really?" Earthen asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She nodded at him and he turned back as if to looked back into the room. There was something on his face, some sort if emotion that felt somewhat foreign to her. Earthen shook his head a bit and said, "I really hope I don't got to do that again." He gave a smirk as he looked over to AppleJack, "That mare can swing" AppleJack giggle a bit before saying, "Come on, we got work to do."

The rest of the day wasn't to eventful. AppleJack made him do some more chores; cleaning the gutters, moving things around, and gathering the tools from around the house to put back in the barn. AppleJack saw that, like Granny said, he was a good worker. He never argued, nor attempt to discern why she wanted things done, not even ask for clarifications on the things she asked. AppleJack wondered where or what had happened in his life to make him such a diligent worker.

A far ways away, a griffon was pacing around in a small room. He was thinking about what to do next. The captain hadn't returned and he was next in line for the chair. While he knew he could be a good captain, he wanted to make sure the previous captain was either dead or captured. There hadn't been a word for either case.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Draven said. It was Silver Speech. Draven's mind immediately become weary of what ever the unicorn was going to say as he asked, "What is it?"

"We are running low on supplies sir. I believe it would be best to find a nearby town to replenish what we've lost." Silver Speech said, not looking at Draven directly. Draven swore silently, he figured this was going to happen but he thought he would have a least an extra two days. He thought about for a bit before motioning at Silver Speech saying, "Get me the charts then. Come on we don't have all day!" Silver Speech nodded and went to get the charts.

After they had all been placed down in the table, Draven began scanning them for a small towns and places far from the Crystal Empire. He eventually found a small town the looked like a decent place to obtain supplies from.

"Tell the crew to get the ship moving." Draven told the unicorn, "Were heading south."

* * *

**Hey guys, sorry for not posting this chapter sooner but for some reason, I kinda got stuck in the story. I'll talk about it when it get there but I was stuck and forgot about the other chapters. **

**Anyway, this chapter I wanted to set up the relationship that Earthen is going to have with the rest of the Apples and why AppleJack felt the need to basically hire a new hand for a while. I also wanted to instill the whole distrust thing not as it makes sense in the story and characters. While AJ is caring and honest, it doesn't mean that she herself trusts everyone she come across. I also figured that Earthen would be good at grunt because manning a ship is very much a lot of grunt work. Carrying things from place to place, get small things done and such. In a very broad way, managing a ship is a lot like managing a farm just with less live stock and more plundering. **

**Again sorry and hope you like the chapter. **


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